The Mage's Daughter
by Starciya
Summary: Jade's world changes when her home gets taken over by a stranger. Can she learn to see beyond what her eyes tell her? Will she be able to accept all these new changes in her life?   This story has bits of beauty and the beast. Revised ch13!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jade couldn't believe it, a Mage bearing one of her father's white roses was overtaking their castle. She hid in the shadows as she saw them start to sweep through the castle barely meeting any resistance.

She ran into her father's chambers, her golden honey colored hair falling out of its pins along the way. "Father, we need to leave." She cried as she approached him sitting behind his worktable. "We are being attacked!"

"I know, my child." He said calmly. "This is the way it is supposed to happen."

"What?" Jade cried. "How is this supposed to happen? We need to get out of here before they kill us."

Her father calmly dipped his quill into the ink pot and continued to write. "I think you may be overreacting. I am going to stay, I believe my time has come. If you wish you may flee."

She looked at him surprised by his answer, but she knew her father once he had made up his mind would not change it. Unsure what she should do Jade stood there for a moment watching her father write until she heard sounds coming from the hallway. She tried once more, "Father! We need to leave now." She urged.

"Don't worry about me, My beloved Jade. You flee. I will stay here and try and talk with them." He said in his calm fashion. "Go."

With that strange urging she ran up to the stone wall and uttered a single word and went through the new opening. As the door closed she heard her father whisper, "Remember no matter what happens, I love you."

Tears sprung to her eyes as she began to run as quickly as she could down the passage way. It led her outside the outer wall. She paused briefly to throw up a barrier spell on the door before continuing her flight in the forest.

Her father, High Mage Malici stayed at his desk writing. He only stopped when he came to the end of the page, he looked up to see a very large cloaked figure in the doorway. Malici gestured the figure into the room.

"You finally arrived, Nathan." Malici stated, "It took you long enough."

A bark of laughter came out of the figure. A deep voice growled, "I was unsure of your intentions. You invited me here saying that you thought you could help me. But in order to do so I had to stage an invasion. It left me very confused."

Malici smiled sadly, "For all appearances, it needs to look like you took over, or everyone will wonder why I did not pass the responsibility of this castle to my daughter Jade."

"Why are you not giving her the castle?" the cloaked figure asked.

"She would be overtaken easily despite the fact that she is a brilliant mage. You will understand in time, although you will need to catch her."

"Catch her? What do you mean?" Nathan asked startled.

"She ran away. She seems to think that you are going to kill her." Malici said calmly.

"What? You didn't explain this to your own daughter." Nathan roared.

"No," Malici shook his head, "I will leave that up to you." He muttered a word and the door in the wall opened up. Malici then threw a charm, which the cloaked figure caught easily in a large gloved hand. "That will help you get past her barriers. She is very powerful and I doubt she will like you right off. Be careful of her."

The figure looked over at him sharply to see that Malici was fading away, "Wait…" he called.

"My time has come. Protect my daughter, and this land and maybe your curse may be lifted." Malici said before he faded away completely.

Nathan paused torn between just letting the girl go or going after her and trying to protect her. His curiosity and the old man's promise won and he began to run after her.

* * *

Jade ran through the forest blindly, her only thought was to get away. She wasn't quite sure why she felt such fear but she did. This fear kept her running, it also had her activating and bringing up barriers behind her whenever she could. She finally stopped at the big rock face about two miles from the castle. The only way to the top was to climb it but with all the running and spell casting she had been doing she didn't trust herself to do it without a moments rest. Sitting down on a rock Jade stretched her senses back across her trail wondering if anybody had tried to take down her barriers yet. She was amazed to feel a barrier less than a half a mile away fall already. She was surprised it was a hard thing to take down one barrier much less the six that her pursuer would have had to gotten past to be this close to her.

Adrenaline pumped through her body as she climbed up the rock face, looking as quickly as she could for the familiar handholds. She was almost to the top when she heard crashing coming from the forest behind. Jade scrambled up and got to the top of the cliff and peered into the forest. She saw a large cloaked figure coming. That image sent more waves of fear through her and she turned around to flee.

Jade ran until she had a stitch in her side, she knew that she couldn't keep going. She looked for the most climbable tree and scurried up it. When she was comfortable on a high branch she prepared an illusion for her pursuer.

* * *

Nathan thought he had her when he approached the rock face. He could see her climbing it. He hoped that he could catch up to her there but somehow she found a burst of speed and gotten ahead of him. He ripped off his gloves, making a face at the claws that were usually hidden underneath. In the back of his mind he could hear a logical voice thinking how climbing was now much easier with these claws. He flew up the rocks much faster than he thought was possible.

At the top his sensitive nose caught her scent again. It had a great deal of fear mixed in with it. He was puzzled, she hadn't even seen him yet and she already feared him.

He quickly followed her trail until it stopped. He stopped and looked around, he saw in his black and white vision a hollow looking woman run off deeper in the forest. He knew that was an illusion. Another thing he wouldn't have been able to tell before, that logical voice commented again.

Making a face, Nathan turned to the tree that he somehow knew she had crawled up. "I know you are up there in that tree, Lady Jade." He called out, "Please come down. I really don't want to climb up and get you."

He heard the crashing of branches as he heard her come down.

"How… how did you know?" she stammered out

He looked at her from underneath his cowl, she was beautiful. It made him wish that he could see in color again. But his sharp eyes saw more than that, they saw how pale her face was, and the beads of sweat that were forming on her forehead.

"I need to take you back to the castle." He told her.

"Don't come near me!" she demanded as she called a spell to her fingertips.

"Don't be hasty, Lady Jade. You're pool of magic is almost gone. I can see you sweating from here. One or two more spells and you may drive yourself unconscious." Nathan said as he tried to calm her down.

"I will not be taken hostage by you." She proclaimed. "Just leave me alone." She raised her hands and threw a lightening attack at him.

He quickly raised his own hands to easily block the spell.

When she saw his clawed hands her face paled even more. "Busenal." She murmured.

He looked down and belatedly realized that he had not replaced his gloves after the climb up the rock face. He grimaced at his thoughtlessness.

"Busenal!" Jade shrieked, "You're a dark mage, turned into a beast because of your lust for power!"

He took a step towards her in an attempt to make her lower her voice, which didn't work.

"Don't come near me!" She shrieked again clearly panicking. Jade conjured another spell to throw at him, when he saw the spell fade away as her eyes rolled up into her head and her knees buckled. She was unconscious on the forest floor seconds later.

'I told her, she was near her limit, but she didn't listen to me.' He thought as he walked up and examined the still form. The pang of hurt that come when he thought about how much he wanted to see colors again formed as he looked at her. He couldn't tell the exact color of her hair in all the grays that were now his world, but he knew it was light. Her face almost looked like a pixie. Nathan put his gloves back on and gently picked her up. With his huge bulk it was an easy task and he had her back within the confines of the castle in no time.

* * *

Author's note- Please tell me what you think of this new story. Hopefully you can tell that it has strains of Beauty and the Beast in it. Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jade woke up in her bed. She blinked as she tried to remember how she got there. Coming up blank she tried to sit up and sank back down because her body felt like a limp noodle. She could remember running in the woods and putting up barriers, she closed her eyes in an attempt to push back the throbbing in her head. She laid there until she fell asleep again, when she woke up the second time she felt like she could actually get up this time. As she sat up she noticed that she was still dressed in the clothes that she was wearing when she ran. She grimaced as she saw that they were torn, muddy and ripped. That she felt like she needed to take care of right away.

Jade forced herself out of bed, stumbled over to the next room and started filling the bath. She then picked new clothes and went back to the bath. Only when she began to undress she noticed that she was wearing a plain silver bracelet that she couldn't remember putting on. She also found that she couldn't take it off, with her magic exhausted she couldn't analyze it, so she resigned herself to get cleaned up and then figure out what the bracelet did. After she was dressed in a very simple green dress that brought out the color of her eyes she wondered what the bracelet was for.

Knowing she could not do anything here she went to the door to head to her workroom. She knew she should think about the events of the past day but she was reluctant to remember how she got back home. Opening the door, Jade found that she could not walk through the opening. She paused, confused for a moment until she left herself remember that she had tried to run away from a Busenat and that she had collapsed from exhaustion. She stood there frowning, holding the door open and rapped her left hand along the barrier.

The silver bracelet touched the barrier and a sound of a clear bell rang through the air. "That's it." She murmured. "The bracelet is part of a barrier spell on me." She was happy that the mystery of the bracelet was solved but she still didn't know what to make of the Busenat.

Jade was jerked out of her musings when she saw a cloaked figure approaching her door. Jade gasped and quickly shut the door. She retreated back to the couch by the bed not able to take her eyes off the door. After several ragged breathes she saw the doorknob turn and the door open. She saw the great hulk of the shadowed figure come into the room and she tried to calm her nerves.

He started towards her and she hissed at him, "Stop right there. Don't come any closer."

The figure stopped and crossed his arms, waiting. She noticed that he still had a hood covering his face and that he was wearing gloves today, hiding the claws underneath.

"Why did you bother bringing me back?" Jade asked him.

"Because I need your help with something." His deep voice remarked dryly.

"Why do you need my help?" Jade asked cautiously.

"Because I do not know much about Lay lines. And this castle of yours sits on the crossing of two of them. Making you somewhat of an expert about them."

"Why would I help you?" She demanded.

"Because I am willing to make you come trade-offs." He began, "You teach me about the Lay lines. I will let you continue your work with the villagers." He said smoothly.

Jade was getting annoyed about how she couldn't see his face and not being able to gage his emotion, remarked, "You would really let me do that? Especially since I know what you are?"

His great shoulders slumped a fraction before he said in a rough voice, "No, sadly enough I can't let you out of this room until you give me a blood oath that you won't tell anybody about me."

Jade gasped at the mention of a blood oath and asked, "Is it really that important for them not to know what you are?"

There was a long pause before he answered, "There tends to be panic whenever "what" I am is discovered, Also when word get out this castle will surrounded by well-meaning mages who want to get rid of me and take over this castle for themselves."

"Why should I have a problem with that?" Jade snapped.

She heard a soft growl come from him before he answered, "Because if this castle was really attacked, who would suffer the most? Not the castle itself but the village outside of its protective walls. Why did you think your Father pretended to have me attack the castle?"

She just stared blankly at him surprised that she hadn't thought of her father once this morning. "Where is my father?" She squeaked out.

"Focus on my question, please." The beast answered back.

"No! Where is my Father?" She asked again her voice stronger.

The Beast sighed, "Your father has passed on." He said gently.

"What?" Jade screamed, "You killed him?"

"I didn't kill you father." The Beast said in a loud voice, "The High Mage Malici has passed on. I saw him disappear myself."

"And I am supposed to believe you?" Jade accused.

"Yes, I do not lie about things like this." He said simply.

In her mind Jade knew he was right. It was just like her father to create a mess like this and then to pass on so he didn't have to deal with it. But she did not want to acknowledge that the Beast was right so she shot back. "What if that statement is a lie? What proof do I have that you don't lie?"

"You don't believe my word." He growled out.

"No."

Jade cold tell form the way his shoulders were set that he was very angry and he spat back at her. "If you cannot trust me, that I believe I cannot trust you to leave this room. I will have James bring you some lunch." With that said, the Beast turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Author's note- Hope you liked reading the chapter, Please review, and tell me what you think. I always like hearing people opinions.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jade collapsed on the bed thinking about her predicament. She was trapped in her own room by a dark Busenat mage who told her that he didn't lie. Her father invited him here and then decided that was the best time to give up the ghost and pass on, leaving her to deal with this mess.

She thought about the beast's offer. Jaded would need to give him a blood oath not to tell anybody about him and she can leave her room but most likely not the castle. There was also the bargain about teaching him about the Lay lines, in exchange for her to be able to continue doing Mage work for the villagers. She still had many projects that she wanted to get done.

There was the bake who was waiting for those fire-proof charms for his new kitchen. The blacksmith who not only wanted his fire-proof charms renewed but wanted some help learning charms to strengthen his metal. There were the farmers with the bug-away charms. Jade stopped this line of thought as she began to feel anxious to help and she couldn't leave her room. She didn't want to teach the Beast about how to use the Lay lines because that would make him more powerful. These Lay lines of magic made spell casting much easier if you knew how to work with them which would be a deadly combination with the power that Beast already held, she couldn't give him that.

Jade jumped surprised when she heard a knock on the door. She remembered belatedly about the promise for lunch. She went over and opened the door. A thin middle aged man with brown hair and brown eyes was on the other side at him and ushered him in gesturing to the small table by the couch for him to put his tray. She thanked him politely and sat down to eat. She was just reaching to lift the cover when the man spoke curious. "What were you talking about that made Master Nathan so mad?"

She was so surprised by the name she didn't hear anything else, "Nathan, Do you mean that Beast has a name?"

The man sighed sad, "Yes, he does. May I ask why you called him a Beast?"

"Because he…" Jade paused for a moment, if this man didn't know what his Master Nathan truly was, should she tell him? The Beast had mentioned that he would like to avoid panic. Seeing the sense in the Beast's words she reformed her answer, "Because he took over my father's castle, captured me and locked me in my own room. That's why I called him a beast."

James sighed, before asking, "What were you talking about?"

"We were talking about my father and I accused him of being a liar." Jade confessed.

James chuckled, "So you refused to believe that he wouldn't lie to you. He really needs to learn not to get so mad when people accuse him of that."

Unable to stop herself Jade asked, "Have you known him for very long?"

James looked at her with a sad smile and answered, "Yes…. Yes, I have. Please enjoy your lunch." He said before disappearing through the door.

Jade blankly started at the door for a long time confused. How could such a Beast have such a calm gentle servant? She thought about the choices in front of her even as the sun began to dip down in the horizon. She came to a decision just before the sunset had disappeared completely. She would trust her father.

Her father had sent the white rose to this Beast on purpose, he had planned this. She just needed to trust in his wisdom and trust this beast too. She took a deep breath, rose and walked to the door. She steeled her courage and rapped the bracelet against the invisible barrier.

A clear bell rang through the silence, Jade went and sat back down on the couch and waited for the Beast to answer her summons. She didn't have to wait long before the door opened and a large cloaked figure slipped inside.

Seeing his large shape in the flickering candlelight brought a sudden fear back into her heart. She had forgotten how much fear that this cloaked figure brought to her. She took a deep breath and willed herself to relax, she had decided to trust him. She looked up at the shadow his cowl made, and as calmly as she could say, said, "My father trusted you enough to bring you here and to take over the land and the people he held dear, so I will trust in his wisdom and trust in you as well. So I will take your bargain to teach you about the Lay lines in exchange to continue my work among the villagers." Jade finished.

She shifted nervously as the silence drew out between them. She could feel the Beast's eyes on her, measuring her words before he spoke, "And what about the blood oath of not speaking to anybody of what I truly am?"

Jade made a face before asking, "Does it have to be a blood oath?" She saw his head nod through his cloak. "What if my life or that of the villagers is in danger? Will I be held to the oath then?"

Jade heard him take in a sharp breath as he considered her words. "How about this," he answered, "Use these words for the oath. 'I, Mage Jade, use this blood oath to promise that I will not reveal the Busenat nature of the Mage Nathan to those who aren't already privy to that knowledge unless there is a real death threat against me or the villagers.'"

Jade considered the words and could find nothing at fault with them, she nodded her consent.

The Beast motioned for her to come to him which she did slowly, stopping an arm length away from him. Jade didn't mean to, but when he raised his hand she flinched.

"Sorry," she mumbled, as she put her hand into his outstretched one. With his other hand he pulled out a small dagger and deftly flicked her finger with it, causing blood to well up.

Jade felt the Beast staring intently at her, she sighed and spoke the words of the blood oath. After the tingling of the magic of the oath faded away The Beast said, "You don't need to be reminded about the consequences of breaking a blood oath, do you?"

She shot him a glare and snapped, "No, I don't. If I break this oath my blood will boil inside me, followed by my death. I know what I just promised too." She tried to jerk her hand out of his but he held onto it strong. "Let go of me!" Jae demanded as she tried again to pull her hand back to her.

"I am sorry." The Beast replied, "I want to expand the barrier spell on you and I need access to the bracelet. Hold still for a moment." He finished distracted with his task.

Jade warily watched him as he performed the spell to change the barrier walls. She even grudgingly had to admit to herself that he was a good magician. When the Beast was done, Jade pulled her hand from his and asked, "Where did you put the new barrier?"

"The castle walls." He said plainly.

"The walls? But I need access into the village." She pointed out.

"I know. I can temporarily expand the spell to include the village easily. All you have to do is ask me to do it and I will."

"Temporarily?" She asked concerned.

His shoulders pulled back in what she thought was a wince. "Yes, I would like to keep the barriers at the castle walls for most of the time. I am sorry about that."

"Can you tell me what your reason for that is?" She asked.

His cowl shook back and forth, "I do not like to lie so I will simply say no. I will not tell you."

Jade made a face and looked away trying to think of a reply when she looked back he was gone. "Of course, being a beast means he is deathly quiet." She mumbled under her breath as she went to close the door. She started out into the night thinking of all that had happened to her, before getting ready for bed.

* * *

Author's note- Thanks to liloapril for the review! Please…. Please…. Please to everybody ele write a review! (how is that for some begging?) I have most of this story written down in a notebook and will be typing is as I get the time and would like to know what people think of it. So again Please Review!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Jade woke up the next morning she could feel that some of her magic had returned to her. She decided to head over to the library after she ate breakfast and look through her books to see if she had any references to Busanets. Jade knew that she needed to expand her limited knowledge on the matter.

After an exhausting morning of searching through book after book she determined that all she could find were in children story books. And the beasts were always the villains of the story. She hated not having anything concrete about the Beast who now owned her family home and was keeping her prisoner.

After Lunch she went to continue her quest but the Beast found her first- his face still shadowed by the dark cowl and cape.

"I am here for my first lesson on the lay lines." The beast said eagerly.

She smiled at his eagerness reminded of what she had told her father before he had started to teach her. "I have thought about how to start teaching you, and decided my father's approach would work for you." Jade walked over to a table and picked up a book. She turned around and jumped back surprised that he was right behind her.

"Sorry." The Beast mumbled.

"You should be." She snapped, "I don't like being surprised like that."

A long moment of silence stretched out in between them before Jade broke it saying, "Here the first lesson is for you to read this book." She held out the book for him to take.

"Read a book? Why? I thought that these would be practical lessons?" He said confused as he slowly took the book from her.

"I said something very similar to my father but he refused to start until he was sure I had the foundation I needed. And that comes from these books."

"Books?" He asked this time suspicious.

"Yes," She smiled gesturing at a large pile of books on the table. "Books. If you have any questions about what you are reading I will be somewhere in here searching for my own books about a project that I have."

Jade left him there as she continued searching through book after book hoping to get lucky.

Which she had none of.

She had searched the library for seven days straight with no luck. It was then she had to accept the fact that even her large library didn't have anything. By this time all her magic had returned to her, and she had access to most of it. The Beast had added a small dampener spell to the barrier spell to keep her from accessing all her magic so she could break the spells he had put on her. It was a smart move on the Beast's part, she had to grudgingly admit because that had been one of the first things on her list to do once her magic returned.

Jade finally went into the village a few days after she had made these startling discoveries and was ambushed by villagers who wanted to reassure themselves that she was fine and ask her questions about the new high mage.

Most of the questions were easy to answer with very little thought,

"Yes, Her father had truly passed on."

"Yes, she was fine, she had just exhausted herself with a magic project."

"Yes, she had met the new mage."

From there the questions got harder to answer. Fortunately the Beast had thought of a cover story. So when she was asked by the girls of the village if the New Mage Nathan was handsome, All Jade had to say was- 'She hadn't seen his face. Nathan had some bad burn scars on his face and he hid it because he didn't want to scare anybody.'

For the question, "Will this new Mage be good for the village?" Jade answered, 'Mage Nathan is very conscious of the village and will do everything he can do to keep it safe.'

It was dusk before Jade finally freed herself from the crowd and made it back to the castle. She wearily walked down the corridor to her room when a voice behind her spoke.

"You did very well today."

Jade spun around surprised to find the Beast behind her. "Well, I didn't have much choice did I?" She complained, "I did take a blood oath."

"I just wanted to say that I appreciated your efforts. You told the story very well." The Beast said sadly.

Jade did not bother to answer she just turned around silently and made her way into her room.

* * *

Nathan watched her go sadly. All he had wanted to do was to thank her. Even though it was lying to the villages and he hated to lie, it was necessary. He had been happy when Jade had said that she would trust him even if that trust was really a trust in her father's decision and not in him. But last the last week or more had made him doubt his reasons for coming here again. After giving him a stack of books to read, Jade went to work on a project of her own, and unless he asked her a question she didn't talk to him. He wasn't sure that he would be able to break this curse here. But the promise that Malaci had given him held him fast, it was almost too much to hope. He also wasn't sure where he could go if this didn't work.

* * *

Jade paced in her bedroom, she didn't like her situation. She had just spent the day lying to people she has known all her life. Well, she corrected it wasn't completely lying- there were many truths weaved into the story she had told today. Jade could see why she had to do it. It didn't mean that she had to like it. She was frustrated she knew no more about the Beast than she did a week ago, She had lied to the villagers and she still sooner or later actually had to sit down and actually start talking to him about the lay lines. She was distracting him with her father's books about the lay lines but that wouldn't last more than another week. This Beast was smart.

The next week took on a schedule, for Jade, the morning was spent walking through the gardens and working on them. Her father's roses needed some work because they hadn't been looked after since her father had passed on. Her afternoons were spent in the library or her workrooms working on something for the villagers or answering the Beast's questions about what he was reading. The nights were what differed sometimes she read, sometimes she tried to complete a project for the villagers. Usually the Beast would silently join her. One night she watched him as he carefully held a book within his claws and used magic to turn the pages so not to rip the pages. Jade found herself wishing again that he didn't have a cowl over his face, she wanted to see the expressions on his face.

Two weeks after the Beast had come into the castle, Jade came into the workroom one afternoon ready to work on a project but she saw the Beast was already there, face still hidden in shadow. He was sitting there expectantly, "You're here. We can get started now."

Startled she looked at him, "You're done? I hadn't realized that you had finished."

His voice was smug as he answered, "Yes, I finally finished that long list of books you gave me."

The humor that was also found in his voice made her smile. "Took you long enough." She bantered back, "Now we can have some fun."

"Oh, I thought reading those books was the fun part, I must be wrong." He bantered back.

She smiled at him and looked up at his shadowed face and dropped the smile remembering what her student really was. Jade coughed slightly and sat down at the table, where she began to quiz him about what he had read in those books. After declaring his knowledge satisfactory she began to show him how you use the Lay lines in a spell.

She found him a delight to teach. He had studied those books well and caught onto the concepts very fast. They were so caught up in the lesson that they forgot about dinner until a servant came into fetch him.

* * *

Author's note- Here is the next chapter. Please tell me what you think of it. Enjoy your day!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next day Jade went down to the village to drop off the charms and spells that the villagers had ordered. Then she made her way to the market to replace and get supplies that she needed.

Martha, who was the herb lady and also the village gossip was ecstatic that Jade had come by. "Lady Jade! I was hoping to see you today." Martha greeted her.

"Hello Martha, How have you been?" Jade asked.

"Oh, I have been doing well, business has been good. How has life been in the castle with the new High Mage?"

Jade smiled, "It is going well. He is very bright and is learning how to do things very well."

Martha dropped to a whisper as she said, "I hear from servants from the castle, that they hardly ever see the High Mage and that when he does appear he never shows his face."

Jade sighed exasperated, hating herself for how easily the lie came out, "You know that the High Mage has some bad burns on his face and he is embarrassed to show it. Surely you have heard that?"

Shrugging Martha said, "I just heard that they are a little spooked by it. You might want to pass that on."

Jade caught on to the meaning that Martha was implying, so she took her supplies, wished Martha a good day, and left to head back to the castle, her good mood gone.

The Beast was waiting for her at the castle gate, and fell into step with her as they walked through the castle up to the workroom.

"How was the village today?" the Beast asked mildly.

Jade was again reminded of how she had lied to Martha and snapped "Fine". They walked in silence for a long moment before Jade asked in a clipped voice." Are you ready to try out some spells?"

"If you think I am ready." the Beast replied sadly.

Jade heard the sadness in his voice and got mad at herself for showing her anger even though it was his fault that she was in this mess. "Sorry, I am in a bit of a bad mood," she apologized, "Let's go see if you can perform some of these spells."

As Jade prepared the workroom, the routine calmed her down. The last step was to raise a protective barrier around them just in case the spells went awry. The spell they would try first was a levitation spell, because of its simplicity it was a great spell to try and combine with the power of the lay lines.

After Jade setup the barrier, she showed the Beast how to perform the spell step by step. She then reluctantly let him try. Jade watched as he prepared the spell, drew power from the lay lines and then cast the spell. Instead of seeing the book levitate off the table, a bright light flashed, momentarily blinding her. Rapidly blinking her eyes, Jade waited for the white spots to go away. She was confused, this shouldn't have happened, even if the spell didn't work there should not have been a flash of light like that. It should have just fizzled out, she remembered her first try, the book only jumped instead of floated. With her clearing vision, Jade looked at the table and saw that the book had been destroyed. Its ashes sat in a large scorched mark on the table. Stunned, Jade looked over the table to the Beast for his reaction and only saw shadow from his cowl.

Jade's temper flared again, she hated not being able to see his face, Jade pushed her anger down and tried to say calmly, "That was unexpected."

His response was a grunt that came out more like a growl, causing her temper to rise again. "Try again," She said flatly.

This time Jade watched closely as he prepared the spell again, he said the words, and activated the spell. Which this time caused a violent blast which threw her back into the barrier. Sitting on the ground holding her throbbing head, Jade coughed out, "How in the world did that happen?"

She looked through the smoky space to where the Beast was sitting. Somehow his cowl had stayed on, still shielding his face. Jade felt her control on her temper snap and she heard herself saying, "Why do you hide your face? I know what you are, why do you still hide it?" He voice sounded harsh even to her ears but she ignored it.

"Why are you asking that now?" His reply came out as a growl, "Shouldn't you be asking why the spell decided to blow up, like a good teacher?"

"Are you saying I am not a good teacher?" Jade accused.

"You first gave me books to read and then let me do a spell that blew up in my face." He snapped back.

"Which I can't see by the way." Jade snapped before answering his question, "I taught you the same way my father taught me. I am sorry if his way isn't good enough for you."

"If it was good, then why did the spell bow up." He snapped again.

"It might be because you messed up. Did you think about that?"

"You were watching me, Did I mess up?" the Beast shot back.

"As far as I could see you did everything right, but what about the things that I couldn't see? What were you thinking about? What was your magic doing?" Jade asked.

"I did everything you told me to do, _Teacher_."

"Obviously not, because the spell didn't work." Jade countered.

"I tell you I did." He firmly said.

"Something was very wrong, or it wouldn't have blown up like that. Are you sure your magic…" Jade paused with a look of horror on her face, "Your magic… it is tainted… You're a Busenat, which makes your magic tainted, making the spell not work right." Jade said excited.

Does that make you happy?" He growled.

Not thinking, Jade smile and said "Yes!"

The Beast didn't respond he just growled.

"There you go again," Jade's good humor faded as quickly as it came, "You never answered my question, Why do you hide your face form me?"

"You also have not answered all of my questions, so why should I answer yours?" He growled back.

"Because, I have asked this several times, and I really want to know. Why do you hide your face?" Jade pressed.

"This is why," He rumbled as he pulled back his hood.

Jade backed up a step and gasped. She couldn't take her eyes off of his black eyes. Jade had only encountered a wolf once before in the woods but she still remembered its fierce face. She could see those same features before her now. One of the only differences was the horns on his head. Even the angry look he was giving her reminded her of that hungry wolf in the woods. So intense was her focus on the Beast that Jade hadn't realized she had been backing up until her back hit the door. She fumbled for the door handle, when it finally opened she sprinted down the hallway, behind her she heard the Beast roar.

* * *

Nathan watched Jade's reaction and couldn't help but to send out a howl of frustration, he had probably just ruined the best chance to break this stupid curse. He had been so angry at her, and it had felt so good to argue with somebody. When she had demanded to see his face, in a flash of anger he showed her and now she was terrified of him.

He upturned the table, sending everything flying and let out another howl. He knew that the servants in the lower levels could hear him and decided to head out to the woods in an attempt to calm down.

* * *

Author's note- thanks to Peach the Hedgehog for reviewing! Hope you all like the story so far. Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Jade fled to her room, tears flowing down her cheeks. Flinging herself onto her bed she cried herself out. Several hours a knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts. She washed her face and answered the door. A nervous little servant girl was there wringing her hands.

"May I help you?" Jade asked politely.

"I went into the workroom to put some supplies away, and… and…. And I… I…" She stammered.

"Yes, go on." Jade said pointedly.

"The workroom is a mess." She said in a rush.

"I know. We had a spell go a little awry. Don't worry about cleaning up, I was going to clean it up after things had settled down." Jade bluffed her way through her explanation with a smile.

The servant girl timidly smiled back before stammering out. "Is that what the commotion was about earlier, none of the servants were brave enough to go up and check after we heard all that howling, and we couldn't find James."

Jade hid a grimace, as she quickly wondered why she hadn't thought of what the servants had thought of all the noise from the explosion and answered. "That was from the spell, the High Mage and I were experimenting with an illusion spell and we ran into some difficulties."

The girl smiled brighter, "Oh, just wait till I tell the others, they were all afraid that a wolf or some kind of beast had gotten in, somehow."

Again Jade found herself hiding a wince as she assured the girl that it had only been a spell and nothing more before sending her on her way back to the kitchens.

As Jade walked slowly up to the workroom, she wondered how to keep rumors flying around from this incident. There were some who were already suspicious from what she had heard this morning. Stepping in front of the door to workroom, Jade felt the fear from earlier return to her. Was he still there? Even if he was gone, how was she going to be in the same room as him? He had been so frightening. After gathering her courage Jade finally opened the door and quickly searched the mess for the large cloaked frame she didn't want to see. Not seeing him, she sighed with relief as she scanned the damage to the room. Not only was everything scattered from the spell blast but the table had been upturned, smashing the ingredient jars and scattering the books and tools that had been on top of it.

Using magic, Jade up righted the table before starting picking up all the scattered items and putting them away. If they were broken she put them on the table to inspect once everything else had been put away.

Once Jade was done she inspected what was on the table. She was impressed. Ten glass jars for ingredients, five different tools, three pens and an inkpot had to be either replaced or fixed. She wrote out a list that she could take to the village tomorrow- the trip would also let her do some rumor control from what the servants would gossip.

Jade left the list and headed back to her rooms planning what to say to the villagers when she froze. She couldn't go into the village tomorrow; she would need the Beast to lift the barrier spell for her to go. Which would mean she would have to talk to him… which she definitely did not want to do. How could she ask him? Her fear of him grew into an angry rant. She couldn't believe that she was being held a prisoner in her own home. Why had her father even invited him here? She should have inherited the castle. It should have never been handed over to a stupid Busenet! She remembered the day when she learned about the right of succession of mage's castles.

_"Jade, this is an interesting thing." Her father had told her, "There are things that cannot be disputed, If the High Mage names an heir, like for example I name you as my heir of this castle. Nobody can argue that you are not qualified and ask the Mage Council to remove you. There is nothing odd about this one, but here is where it gets tricky. If I had no heir, or for some reason decided that you weren't able to run the castle, I could pick a successor from outside this castle, but anybody could argue that decision to the Mage Council and the Mage Council could pick somebody new. But if that person invaded the castle and took over it then the Mage Council could not dispute it. So most High Mages, if they want to pick a successor from outside the castle, will set up a mock invasion."_

Jade sadly went over his words, wondering why he didn't leave the castle to her, did he really think that she wasn't capable of running this castle. Jade sat down anger fizzling into depression. What should she do now?

The next morning after breakfast Jade went up to the workroom to grab her list to sent it with a servant to the village to fill. She noticed another note by hers, curious she picked up to read it.

_I noticed your shopping list. I have already lifted the barriers for you to go in to the village to get what you need. I am sorry I lost my temper yesterday and frightened you._

Nathan

Jade stood stunned, staring at the note. It made her feel relieved and guilty at the same time. Relieved that she didn't have to go talk to him, and guilty because he wasn't the only one that had lost his temper.

With these mixed feelings she headed toward the village. She stopped at the glass makers and told him about the failed illusion that she had tried yesterday. How she had succeeded with the wolf and the howl but couldn't hold it and the spell exploded scattering her workroom and braking many things. She had worked on this story all morning and told it with ease. By the time she had crossed off everything on her list, Jade had the villagers all convinced about the events at the castle the night before. Her last stop was Martha, she would be the last person to tell her story to.

Martha had (not surprisingly) already heard the story. Jade filled in any missing spots, or wrong spots in the story. After that was done Jade was about to leave when Martha reminded her "You're going to go with us tomorrow night to harvest the moon lilies, right?"

Jade stared at Martha, taken off-guard. "I had completely forgotten that tomorrow night was the full moon, but I will still be able to go with you. Usual place and time?"

Martha beamed at her, "Yes, the usual time and place. I am glad you are coming, some of the men tell me that the wolves are bad this year."

Jade froze when she heard the word wolves, the word causing her to remember the sight she saw last night. She suppressed a shudder as she pushed the memory to the back of her mind. Jade forced a smile and told Martha that she would be there tomorrow. As she walked back to the castle Jade was thinking furiously about how she was going to approach the Beast to let her go with Martha tomorrow night. She cautiously approached the workroom, peeked her head in. Not seeing anybody there she quickly came in and put her bundle away and immediately retreated to her room.

In her room, Jade paced. She wasn't sure she even wanted to face the Beast at the moment or if she wanted to ever. Just thinking about him made her heart race and breath quicken. She wanted to go to her father's Rose Garden but didn't want to leave her rooms in the slight chance that she might meet the Beast along the way.

After pacing and fretting for a while, Jade finally sat down at her writing desk and took out a sheet of paper where she wrote.

_I have a request. Martha and a couple of villagers go out every full moon to pick moon lilies. These flowers only flower on the night of the full moon and are best picked at that time. I usually accompany them to help pick flowers and also provide barriers against wolves. Can you please extend the barrier for me so I can go with them?_

_Jade_

She performed a spell that made the paper fold into a bird and then had it fly to the Beast's room. She didn't have to wait long before another small paper sparrow flew into her room and rested on the table in front of her. Carefully she picked it up and opened it. It read.

**I am not sure it is wise to go into the woods at this time, or at least to go in as far as you have to go to get to the moon lilies. The wolves are very bad this year.**

**Nathan**

To this she replied:

_Martha and the other ladies in the village rely on these flowers for many things. They need to go. If the wolves are bad than it is even more important for me to go to help keep them safe._

_Jade_

She sent it off in the shape of a parrot.

His answer came in a shape of a Jay.

**I understand the reason that they need to go. I am worried about their safety and yours. Do the village hunters go with you?"**

**Nathan**

She sent hers back in the shape of a little hawk,

_The hunters usually don't come but if the wolves are as bad as you say we can request that they come along this time._

_Jade_

She smiled when his answer came back as a little finch.

**I guess it would be alright. Just be careful. These wolves worry me.**

**Nathan**

_ Thank you for your concern. But these flowers are worth the risk. Thank you for understanding that._

_Jade_

**I understand that moon lilies have the property to relieve headaches and ached but are they worth all this risk?**

**Nathan**

On and on the letters went, each with being sent by delicate little bird. They moved off of the topic of moon lilies onto other spells, memories of how they grew up. They went late into the night passing notes. The next morning they picked up the letters again. Through these letters Jade began to see the personality of the Beast. He seemed to be kind, and considerate. She even could see a sense of humor mixed in with his stories. But every time she thought of the day she saw his face these thoughts fled from her mind. She found it easier to deal with him through letters Jade was worried about how she would react when she came to him face to face again.

* * *

Author's note- Thanks for reading! I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Please Review.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As the afternoon drug on, Jade prepared herself for the trip, it must have been all the talk about the wolves but she was nervous. Nathan's worries had been passed down to her. She met the group in the village before heading out into the forest. The presence of the hunters made everyone edgy.

When Jade was young, as a precaution that she had setup with her father when she first started doing this with the village ladies, her father had taught her how to make a long tunnel barrier. It would lead all the way back to the village keeping them safe from pursuing predators. All she had to do was activate it. As their group walked out into the forest, Jade checked the spell posts for any damage and made sure that they would be ready to activate if needed. They were all working perfectly, which helped Jade relax a bit. With the extra hands from the hunters they were able to pick what they needed faster than usual. But they also had wandered farther than the barrier spell her father had constructed allowed. Jade was anxious to get back within the boundaries of this spell.

They were beginning to talk about heading back when one of the hunters gave a shout. He could see something in the woods. Immediately Jade ordered everyone to fall back to the borders of the barrier. They had almost reached it when the growling of the wolf could be heard. Jade raised the barrier and told everyone to get behind it. She could see at least six wolves out there. The ladies began to scurry through the tunnel barrier back out of the forest. The hunters with their guns raised towards the stalking wolves followed slowly. Jade followed behind the hunters disturbed. The barrier was not as strong as it should be. The spell the Beast had put on her, dampening her magic, made it so she couldn't make the barrier as strong as it should be. "It should be enough," Jade thought to herself as she followed the hunters. They were half-way out of the forest when it was noticed that the number of wolves had doubled. They were also definitely following them, which was unusual behavior for the wolves.

The hunters and Jade warily watched them as they continued to leave the forest. Jade was so preoccupied watching behind her for the wolves that she didn't sense that the barrier to the front left of her was weakened. A large wolf jump at this weakened spot and tackled one of the hunters. The other hunters quickly shot this wolf while Jade restored the barrier. Jake had some scratches but was fine to walk so they kept going. Jade reviewed the barrier and found several other weak spots in it. As she strengthened them she was confused. She was weakened a little bit by the Beast's dampening spell but not to this extent. Something was attacking the barrier enough times to break a hole in it.

She motioned to one of the hunters, Paul, "These wolves are not normal. We need to get out of here as fast as possible."

Paul nodded, "They are behaving unusual."

"I think they are attacking the barrier so they can get through. I have never had them do that before." Jade admitted.

Paul nodded again his eyes searching the forest as they walked. They were falling behind from the main group, but they let them go, as Jade held up her hand to stop Paul.

"There is another break in the barrier." Jade said annoyed that her barrier broke again. "It is behind us." She turned around muttering words to close the gap. Paul turned around as well, his gun raised.

"Let's stop these blasted wolves here. The rest of the group is traveling fast, they should be back in the village soon." Paul commented.

Soon they saw several pairs of glowing eyes approaching them. Paul took aim and fired, while Jade brought a fire spell to her fingers. She flashed it forward at any wolves that got too close. Paul had already taken down several wolves but the problem came from the fact that more kept appearing. Jade could feel her store of magic disappearing and wondered how much longer they could hold out.

Paul next to her yelled out as a wolf attacked him bringing him to the ground. Jade with a quick levitation spell threw the wolf off and dropped to Paul's side. Paul was unconscious and the wolves were advancing again.

Jade brought up her fire again, causing the wolves to stop and pace around her. Jade watched them wondering why they were here, and if they were demon wolves.

After a while she had to concentrate to keep the spell going, and the wolves were still there waiting for their chance to attack. She heard a roar, distracting her, causing the fire spell faltered, then a wolf jumped in. Jade flinched, throwing her arms up. She felt pain falst through her right arm as a wolf sprang forward. She waited for the weight of the wolf to crash into her but all she heard was a whine coming from the wolf. She opened her eyes to see the Beast fighting the wolves, with a fierceness in his eyes that she had never seen anywhere else. After a shocked moment, Jade snapped herself out of her awe and she concurred up her fire spell again and helped scare the wolves off.

After he was sure that the wolves were gone, the Beast turned to Jade and commented, "See I told you the wolves were bad this year."

Jade smiled at him, wondering at the change in his eyes. A few moments ago they were fierce and hard, now they were soft and concerned.

"I didn't think they would be this bad." Jade commented back. "How did you know to come?"

The Beast looked over to Paul's still form, "The others from your group reached the village but you two didn't, I came to find you."

"Thank you." Jade said quietly.

He went and carefully picked up Paul. "Let's get back to the village." He said.

They walked in silence until they were almost back to the village, where Jade spoke, "We need to put your hood up."

The Beast looked at her surprised as he realized that he didn't have it on. Jade interrupted him as she started to put down Paul. "No, let me do it."

Jade reached up and gently put his hood over his face.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

Martha bandaged up Jade's arm while Jade told the story of what happened to them, with some slight changes. For example she told them that Nathan used his magic to scare the wolves away and not his beast side to fight them off.

It was almost dawn by the time Jade and Nathan returned to the castle. Jade followed Nathan to his rooms after sending James to the workroom for her medical kit.

"Why did you follow me?" Nathan asked her.

"Because I am pretty sure that you got hurt. And I would like to help you get cleaned up." Jade replied.

"How are you so sure that I got hurt?" He asked back.

"You are favoring your left arm and leg." Jade answered back.

James came in at that time and handed Jade her kit and then with a slight smile on his face as he left. Jade turned expectantly to Nathan and asked, "Well?"

Nathan sighed and took off his gloves revealing his claws and started to roll up the sleeves on his cloak.

"Just take the cloak off, it will be easier that way." Jade commanded her focus on her kit.

"But…" Nathan started to protest.

"Don't worry about it. I will not be frightened like I was last time. Just take it off." Jade commanded again.

Nathan reluctantly took off his cloak and winced when Jade finally looked up and him and jumped.

"I am sorry." Jade whispered, "I just need to get used to it. So it is important you don't hide it away."

Hesitantly he asked, "What changed your mind? I was sure you would never actually talk to me again, never less look at me again."

Jade had froze on his arm for a moment before answering, "Seeing how fierce, you were with those wolves, then I saw how gentle you were with Paul and me made me realize that even though you look like a beast, you have never acted like one. You have never acted like those wolves that attacked us so relentlessly."

Jade looked at his surprised face, blushed a little bit, before focusing her attention on wrapping up his arm.

Silence stretched in between them before Jade asked suddenly, "Did you actually do this to yourself?" seeing his blank look she continued, "Did you actually become a Busenat on purpose?"

He looked at her for a long moment before answering sadly, "I can't tell you."

"Oh," she responded looking down at her work again.

"It is not as if I don't trust you." Nathan said rapidly, "I can't tell you or anybody about this curse. It won't let me."

"Really?" She asked, "Nothing?"

"Unless you already know, I cannot discuss it."

"So how you became to be cursed, how you can break it… you can't say anything?" Jade asked curious.

Th this Nathan shook his head.

"How long have you been cursed?" Jade asked.

"Can't answer that." He mumbled back.

"How old are you?"

"The same age as you." He stated, "I'm 25."

Thinking about her next question Jade asked, "When I turned 18, there was a conference for all young mages in Ethien. Did you go that that conference?"

"No, I wanted to, but I had some difficulties." He said holding up his claws.

Jade smiled and then asked, "When mages turn fifteen, they are able to go to a nearby castle that is positioned on a lay line to learn about them. Which castle did you go to?"

"I didn't go, I had the same difficulties as the last question." Nathan responded.

Jade looked at him surprised, "You have been a Busenat for over ten years? How could you have actually performed the spells required to become a Busenat at such a young age? I hear they are very difficult."

"I cannot tell you." He responded sadly.

"Then what can you tell me?" Jade asked.

"I can tell you that it has been a very lonely ten years. James is the only one who has been with me the whole time. I have avoided most contact with other people. And I am glad your father invited me here."

"I wished he would have explained that reasoning with me." Jade said.

"He told me before he passed on that if I stayed here and protected both you and this land, that maybe my cure maybe lifted."

"I wonder how he knew what was needed to left the curse. You can't give me any hints?" Jade hopefully pressed.

"I am afraid not." Came his answer.

"Stupid curse." Jade muttered.

"I agree." Nathan muttered back.

* * *

Author's note- I hope that you are enjoying the story so far. If you like it please review! Thanks!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"I have already searched the library for any information on Busenats. So there is no help in there." Jade said, "Where else can we find information?"

"Another library, perhaps." Nathan replied.

"It would have to be a large library." Jade answered with a large yawn.

Nathan smiled, "It has been a very full night, you need some sleep."

Jade smiled back at him and answered, "Yes, I do. You should get some sleep too. We will continue this conversation later." With that Jade bid him a good night and left him.

It wasn't until the next day that they were able to continue their conversation. There were talking about how to get Jade more information when they startled by a knock on the door.

Jade made sure that Nathan's hood was up before she magically opened the door for a servant girl to come in. The girl brought in a tray with tea and biscuits and before leaving gave Jade a letter. Confused Jade opened it and read.

_My dear Jade,_

_I am so sorry to hear about you father. He was a dear friend to me. I hope the New High Mage has been kind to you. I have to admit that I was surprised that your father didn't pass the castle onto you. But knowing your father he had his reasons. It will just take time to understand why he did it that way._

_The reason why I am writing you is because I was wondering if I would see you at my yearly get-together of mages. Ask the new High Mage Nathan if he can spare you. If you can come please be at the border on the 17__th__. I will have an escort waiting for you._

_Peace be with you._

_Mage William_

Jade reread the letter and looked blankly at it as she tried to figure out how she had forgotten about Mage Williams' get-together this year.

Nathan politely coughed brining her out of her brown study. Startled she looked at him, all he did was raise his bushy eyebrows expectantly.

"Oh, sorry." Jade said before reading him the letter. She then explained that Mage William was an old school buddy of her father's and for the last six years, she went over to his castle to meet other mages her age and to study with them.

His only response was to ask, "Are you going this year?"

"I don't know, I had completely forgotten about it with everything that has happened." She paused for a long moment as she thought of something, "You know, Mage William has one of the largest libraries around."

"You think you can find yourself some more information in his library." Nathan asked his face blank.

"It is worth a try." Jade said, "If I can't find anything I will come back home and we will think of something else. But if I can find anything, think of how much farther we will be in solving your curse."

"You want to free me that much?" Nathan asked.

"Don't you want to be free?" Jade asked back.

"Of course, I do."

"Then can I go and see what I can find at Mage Williams?"

Nathan sighed, "Yes, you can go. The letter said the 17th. That is in three days. How long does it take to get to the meeting place?"

"One day. So I will have to be ready to go by tomorrow evening." Jade said thoughtfully.

"That doesn't give you much time to pack." Nathan said with a sad undercurrent in his voice.

Jade wasn't listening to him because she was excited at the possibility of her questions getting finally answered.

Just before she mounted her horse to leave she said goodbye to Nathan, who then handed her a package. He told her not to open it until she had stopped for the night. Jade smiled at him and put a hand in his gloved hands.

"Don't worry, I will be back in a couple of weeks, hopefully will some clues on how to break this curse." She squeezed his hand she then mounted her horse and left.

* * *

Nathan did not take comfort in her words as he watched her go. He had just let his only chance to break his curse leave. It had just been two months since he had come to this castle but he was pretty sure that this ache in his heart, the one that had been present since Jade told him that she was going, was love. He had fallen in love with that little mage lady, so much that all he wanted was for her to be happy. He watched the departing group until not even his keen eyes could see them anymore.

* * *

Jade was excited as she left for Mage Williams' castle. She was very optimistic that she could find information about Busenats there and hopefully break Nathan's curse.

When they got to the inn near the meeting place, she finally had a chance to open Nathan's bundle he had given her. Jade gasped as she recognized the cover of the book in the bundle. It had her father's crest on it, marking it as one of his journals. Reverently she opened the book and saw that this book was started about a year ago. She read through the first entry, smiling at her father's way of writing down everything that had happened and still sound somewhat exciting.

As she read through the first couple of pages, those days came back to memory. Jade smiled as she yawned, she would work her way through the book during the trip. She also needed to find a way to thank Nathan for giving her the book.

The next day at the meeting place Jade met a very handsome man. He had wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His name was Richard, and he had been sent by Mage William to escort her. Jade was flattered, this handsome man was charming. As they rode through the next two days they talked and exchanged stories.

Jade didn't know how to describe it, but she fielt like this man really cared about her, he listened to her, he laughed at her jokes and made her laugh as well. She was a little disappointed when they reached their destination.

"My dear Jade," William greeted her as they came into his workroom. "I am very glad that you could make it. I was very sorry to hear about your father. He was a dear friend."

"Thank you. Your words comfort me. My father considered you one of his most trusted friends."

William laughed self-consciously, "I miss his letters." He paused lost in thought." Why are we on this depressing line of thoughts? I want you to enjoy yourself while you are here. Did you become friends with Richard on your trip?"

"Yes, he is the most engaging man. How did you meet him?"

"He appeared about two months ago, asking if he could study here. Since he seemed like a bright young man I consented. Tomorrow your friends Ellen, Tavis, and Brenda will be here. They are here for their yearly visit like you. I hope you enjoy yourself." He finished and began to walk away.

"Oh, wait," she stopped him," I do have some subjects that I wish to study, can I have access to your libraries?"

"Of course you can. You don't even need to ask." Was his answer.

Jade with that in mind, went to start her preliminary search. She didn't get very far in her search before Richard found her. "After riding all day instead of resting, you are found in the library studying, why?" He finished with a grin.

"This library is much larger than the one I have had home, I need to take advantage of it while, I am here." Jade said matter-of-factly.

"Well, what are you searching for? Maybe I can help?" Richard asked. Jade paused, thinking- _what should I tell him? I can't tell him what I am really looking or, it would give Nathan away._

"I am looking for information on big lay line spells. My father kept a lot of this knowledge in his head, and now that he is gone, I find in his head, and now that he is gone, I find myself wishing I had paid more attention to him." Jade finished with a sad smile.

Richard narrowed his eyes, and asked, "Doesn't the new high mage do all these spells?"

"The new high mage hasn't had much experience with lay lines so I have become his teacher. He is already up to my level and I told him that I would bring back knowledge of the things I lacked." Jade said casually.

"Oh…." Richard paused for a great moment before asking, "Where do we start?"

Jade smiled at him and shrugged, "This library is huge and unfortunately Mage William doesn't keep it very organized. So it is a game of hide and seek. You look over there and I will look on this row." Jade pointed as she began to search. Her search wasn't as fruitful as she would have liked because Richard kept coming over to her every five minutes to ask her about this book or that book. Jade finally gave up and let herself be escorted out of the library.

* * *

Author's note- thanks for the two who reviewed! Hope you like this chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jade woke up with a headache. She had only been here for six days and each day her headache seemed to get worse. She laid back down and tried to think what might be causing it. Her head pounded so badly she had a hard time thinking. Jade thought at what events were supposed to be today, which ones she had to go to and which ones she could skip.

She could have breakfast in her room but then Richard had planned to go riding and she had to go to that. It was strange, it was almost as if just thinking about Richard cleared her thoughts. She had been spending so much time with him that she hadn't been back to the library since the first day she had been here. She needed to find some time, she had promised Nathan she would. Her head started to pound again. Jade laid back down in the bed, thinking that later when her headache went away she would go to the library.

Later that day, despite her claims of headaches found herself on her horse, riding with Richard, Tavis, Ellen, and Brenda. Jade rode quietly on her horse listening to Tavis, Ellen, and Brenda's conversation. Richard kept looking at her, as if he was curious about something."Is there something wrong?" She asked him.

"No, you just seem quieter than usual." He replied.

"That's because I have a headache. I told you I didn't want to come." She said matter-of-factly.

"I was missing your presence. I needed to you to come." He wheedled.

Jade smiled and chuckled, "You would fade away if I didn't come?"

"That's right."

"I find that hard to believe." She scoffed.

"But I would. I don't know what I would do without you, Jade." He said pleading.

Jade smiled at him touched. She didn't notice their other companions looking at her confused, she also didn't notice that during the rest of the ride they kept sending her confused looks.

By the time they had returned from their ride, Jade's headache was gone but as soon as she went to go change out her riding outfit it returned stronger than ever.

She sat for a moment in a chair before Jade decided that she needed to go to the library and try and help Nathan. When she walked into the library her mind was so fuzzy she wasn't quite sure why she came into the library. Jade sat down at the table buried her head in her hands trying to think through the fog that surrounded her thoughts at the moment.

"Jade?" a concerned voice interrupted her efforts.

She lifted her head wearily and looked at the man in front of her. Blinking rapidly trying to get his face to focus, she finally recognized him. "Mage Williams, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. Ellen had voiced some concerns for you to me. And I wanted to see them for myself what was wrong. You are not doing well are you?" he asked.

"I have a headache that won't go away. I needed to find something in your library, but I can't remember what it was." Jade said distracted.

"I think I know what it was. Here take this book." He pressed a book into her hands and continued, "Go back to your room, and please stay there. I suggest trying some reading." He said vaguely. "Come on, I will escort you to your room."

Mage William quietly led her to her room and left her. Jade stood by her bed with the book Mage William had given her in her hand. She peered at the book but the title was fuzzy and she couldn't read it. She threw it down on her desk, discouraged. It collided with another book and knocked it off the table. Annoyed she went to pick the book up and saw it was her father's journal. She felt a twang of guilt because she hadn't read it since that first night at the inn. She picked up and opened it up randomly. Jade was surprised that she could focus on the words. She was even more surprised when she saw that the page she opened up to was addressed to her.

_My dearest daughter,_

_I know when you read this, it will not be the best time to tell you this but there is not much I can do about that._

_I know that you are going through a tough time. Your mind is confused…fuzzy. It is hard to think. But you need to find the reason for this. THINK! This is not a natural occurrence. This is happening for a reason. You need to find it. Use that sharp cunning of yours. Once you found the reason for your confusion the release is within the pages of this book._

_You can do this._

_With all my love._

_Your father_

Jade read through the letter several times, wondering what he was talking about. It was true that she was having trouble focusing but that was because of the headaches….. But the headaches were strange, the way she would have them and then they would disappear whenever Richard was near her. But what would cause that?... A spell?

What kind of spell? Jade searched her memory for anything like this.

For a while she kept coming up blank. But she kept pushing, kept searching until finally one spell appeared, a love spell.

A love spell- meant to focus everything on the person who cast it. Why would anybody cast a love spell on her? What she have to offer? She allowed her thoughts to stray as she leaned back into the couch. I wonder what Richard is doing? Jade sat up straight and said out-loud. "Now why did I bring up Richard? Could he be the one?..." She thought back on how the headaches started after she had come to this castle and after she had met Richard. But what did he have to gain from it? Jade wondered. Her thoughts were disrupted by a sudden throb of her head.

"Could my headache be designed to distract me from reaching the truth?" She mumbled.

She picked up her father's journal again and started to leaf through the pages. What did he put in here? She thought.

What could help me in here? She flipped through the pages, scanning each page briefly. She was about halfway through the book when she stopped and re-read through the page.

_There is a High-Level forbidden spell used to give, the person who is the object of the spell, the appearance of being in love with person who cast the spell on him. Effects of this spell are terrible headaches, fuzzy memories, and can even cause memory loss of people close to them. The solution to dissolve the spell is fairly simple. A bracelet tied with a shipline knot, with purified threat to be worn at all times. If the spell is stronger than this simple charm can dispel than the next counter-spell goes as follows._

Jade looked up from the book and wondered if the bracelet would really break such a high-level spell. She set the book down and winced as her headache sprang up again. She walked over to her luggage and pulled out her mage kit. Routing around in it she pulled out spool of thread, she rubbed her forehead as she stumbled back to the desk with the thread.

Jade picked up the book again and set it in her lap because it seemed to have an effect on her headaches. She started tying the specific knot into the thread, it didn't take long before Jade had it finished. She looked at the simple bracelet with wonder. Shrugging Jade put on the bracelet and set the book down. She didn't know what to expect, she felt the same with the bracelet on as when she held her father's book. Jade paced the room wondering what she should do next. She didn't know why Richard was performing this spell on her. Should she just go home and just leave the situation? Or should she stay and try and figure out his reasons.

While she was debuting, Jade was interrupted by a knock on the door. Confused she went to the door and opened it up. Richard was there smiling at her. She faked a smile and asked him why he was there.

"I came up to get you for dinner." He replied.

"I am afraid I am not very hungry. I believe I am just going stay here and get some rest."

A calculating look flashed across his face as he pleaded with her. "Please, come down to dinner for me."

Jade felt a flash a pain as she said that. She made a quick decision to go with him and see if she could figure out his motives.

"Alright, for you I will go." She bluffed.

Jade let herself be escorted down for dinner by Richard. She tried to act as if there was nothing wrong… that nothing had changed. But Richard kept sending her searching looks throughout dinner.

By the time dinner had finished Jade was beginning to feel a little bit fuzzy again. She tried to make her excuses to Richard to get away but for some reason she kept letting him talk her into staying.

"How are your headaches doing?" Richard asked her as he led her out into the gardens.

"They are doing much better than this morning." Jade replied, "Thank you for asking."

"I am concerned for you, you are so beautiful." Richard said.

Jade found herself blushing, "Thank you, you are too kind."

"I am just speaking the truth." Richard said calmly.

"I am glad I came here. I almost didn't." Jade found herself saying. She wondered why she had said that.

"I am glad you came here too." Richard started, "It is almost like it was fate." He stopped walking and turned towards her, staring at her with piercing eyes. "I am glad I was able to meet you. Can you tell me about your home?"

"I don't know what you would like to know. It is a simple castle with a village next to it. The villagers are very nice, I have many friends among them." Jade supplied.

"A simple castle?" Richard scoffed. "How can it be a simple castle when it lies on two lay lines? Not many castles can boast about that."

An alarm bell went up it Jade's head but it faded almost instantly. She shook her head as if to clear it and looked up to see Richard giving her another one of his assessing looks.

"Tell me about the new High Mage." He commanded.

"Nathan?" Jade paused, hesitating for some reason. "Not much to tell, he is very bright and is falling into his duties as High Mage well." Jade finally said.

"I hear he hides his face, Can you tell me why that is?" Richard pressed.

"He has some bad burns on his face, so he hides his face. " Jade told the customary lie.

"Really? Is that really true?" Richard asked.

Jade looked at him confused, she wanted to snap at him for calling her a liar but found herself confessing, "I have never seen the scars."

"Hmmm." Richard muttered.

"Why are we talking about Nathan right now?" Jade asked a little panicked about his reaction. "Let's talk about something else."

"Then let's talk about you, Jade. How long are you going to stay with me?"

When he said that Jade could only feel a mild sense of alarm but she managed to get out, "I was only planning on staying a few more days."

"That will not do," Richard said with a smile on his face and narrowed eyes. "I need you to stay with me for much longer than that."

Jade shook her head trying to think of the reason why she needed to leave. But she couldn't think of a good reason for it. Why did she need to go home? She could stay here longer.

Sensing her indecision, Richard stepped in and said, "Please, stay here with me. Let's enjoy each other's company for longer." He pulled her into an embrace.

Jade shook her head again and tried to push away from him, but he just drew her closer. The closer she was the more she wondered why she was fighting. She relaxed and let him pull her into a prolonged kiss.

* * *

Author's note- Thanks for reading! Thanks for the review Feel4! Please tell me what you think of the this chapter and of Richard.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Nathan paced back and forth, he really wanted to see Jade again and he could do it too, he could do a spell that could do it. But he wasn't quite sure if he should do it or not. If Jade found out she would most likely be very mad at him. He paced the room for a little while longer before shaking his head and walking quickly over to his workbench. It didn't take long for him to construct the spell and activate it. He looked in the mirror where the picture would show up. The first image he saw was Jade, she looked off, something was wrong. He murmured a few words and the image refocused with a larger view. He noticed there was somebody close and talking to her. With another string of words the image refocused on him. When the image cleared Nathan let out a string of curses.

* * *

Jade allowed herself to be taken back to her room, which is where he left her. Jade stumbled into her room and was surprised to see people in there. She couldn't quite focus on who they were.

One of them with blonde hair came running up and asked, "Jade! Are you all right?"

"Who are you?" She asked the stranger.

"Oh, dear." The girl said, "Mage Williams, it is worse than your thought it would be." She said over her shoulder.

An older man looked up from a bubbling pot in the fireplace and said, "Ellen, if you are done with those bracelets please put them on her. Also have her sit down on the couch, please."

Ellen guided Jade over to the couch and had her sit down. Jade then watched as Ellen then walked over to the table and picked up two familiar looking bracelets.

Jade looked down at her own wrist looking for the bracelet that she had that looked like it. She didn't find it, but she could have sworn that she had one on her wrist, but it was bare.

The girl came back over and tied the two bracelets on the wrist that Jade was just looking at. Jade looked at her confused and asked, "What are those supposed to do?"

Ellen looked at her concerned, "Tavis? These don't seem to be working. What does the book say to do now?"

"Don't panic, El. We still need to use the potion, so just be patient until it is finished." The guy reading through a book said without even looking up.

Ellen brought her attention back to Jade, muttering angrily.

"What is happening?" Jade asked her.

Ellen grabbed her hand and said, "Don't worry, honey we are taking care of things."

Jade followed her gaze over the man hovering above the position. "What is he making?" Jade asked her.

"It is for you. Things will make more sense after you have taken it. So just be patient, please." was her reply.

Jade made a face at her, she wasn't quite sure what to do. Should she trust these people or should she refuse to take the potion?

A headache started to throb as she contemplated it. Maybe she should go find Richard and ask him…

She found herself hesitating about that last thought. She wanted to trust these strange people who were in her room, she felt like she had known them for a while. So when the older man called Mage Williams came up to her with a glass full of a frothy blue concoction, she took a sip.

"You have to drink all of it." Mage Williams insisted as he tipped the glass up for her, causing her quickly swallow the drink. Sputtering she spat out, "Why in the world did you feed me such an awful concoction?" She paused and looked up at them and then commented. "Wait… What am I doing here? What are all of you doing here?"

"We came to help you. You seemed to be in some trouble with Richard and after dinner came to ask you about it, only you weren't here and this book was open to the page about a strong love spell. It then all made sense." Ellen filled in.

Memories flashed in Jade's memories of the evening and she moaned to herself, "I have been such a fool."

"Yes, you have." Tavis remarked, "But you couldn't help most of it, so we will forgive you."

"We have pulled you out of it this time, but if he casts it again, I don't know if we can bring you out of it again." Mage William spoke up.

"We need to get you away from him. I am sorry that I put you in this situation, Jade. Your father would be so disappointed in me." Mage Williams apologized.

Jade replied, "I am not sure about that. He seemed to know that this was going to happen. He had a note for me, he had this counter-spell all ready for us to use. It is almost as if he could see the future." She looked up at Mage Williams, who avoided eye contact with her. "Do you know something?"

Mage Williams looked back up at her and smiled sadly, "Your father would have explained somewhere I will leave explaining this up to him. But now we need to discuss how you are going to get out of here."

Making a face, Jade slowly nodded and asked, "So do you have a plan?"

"Not really, my thoughts up to now were to get you out of the grips of that spell.' He admitted.

Ellen jumped in, "I am leaving in a day, what if you go with me then?"

"I could try and distract Richard until then, and you and Ellen could stay in your rooms and stay out of sight until it is time to go." Tavis volunteered.

"Do you really think that you can keep him distracted?" Jade asked. "What if he tries to confuse you with a spell?"

"Well, Ellen can make me one of those bracelets which should deflect any small spells. We just need to make sure that you stay out of his way tomorrow so you can leave with Ellen the next day." Tavis said.

Mage Williams nodded, "I will help Tavis. I have some spells that need working on, it will help that Richard will still think you are under his spell, he won't have to worry about you."

Nodding her consent, Jade replied, "Alright then, I just wish I knew why he was doing this."

"I don't know. It maybe because he wants access to your castle or maybe he just wants you." Mage Williams remarked.

"The castle isn't mine anymore, it's the new High Mage's. And I have a hard time believing the other reason." Jade commented.

Everyone stood in silence for a long moment before Tavis said, "It is getting late, I think I am going to go to bed."

"Good idea Tavis," Mage Williams added, "I will head that way myself. Remember Jade, you need to stay in this room, don't leave for anybody."

Jade nodded and said good night to the two men as they left. Ellen turned to Jade and said, "I will be right back. I am going to go grab some clothes and things." Ellen then stepped out the door leaving Jade alone with her spinning thoughts.

She sat down at her desk, thinking about what happened. She saw a book that she didn't recognize in the corner. Confused she picked it up and read the title. Underneath the Monster. Where had this book come from? Jade wondered. She then vaguely remembered Mage Williams giving her a book when she had gone to the library earlier. She opened the cover and read the summary, which told her this book was about Busenats. How had Mage Williams known she was looking for this? Jade flipped through the book in wonder, to become even more surprised when she found a letter in the back.

Opening it up she found that it was written by her father to her.

_Jade,_

_I know you have many questions right now. Among them is the question is how I know this. It will be a while before you have the answer to that question. Hopefully this book will answer most of your other questions. Pay close attention to chapter six._

_With love,_

_Your father_

Jade just stared at the letter, How in the world did her father know this? How could he have written this? Her curiosity about the book finally had her put the letter away and go back to the front of the book to start reading. She had forgotten all about Ellen until the door closing caused her to jump.

"Sorry to startle you." Ellen apologized, "What are you reading that is so interesting?"

"It is a book Mage Williams gave me earlier. It is a book on some high level spells." Jade replied distracted.

"You and your books. I don't know how you can read them so much." Ellen complained. "I am going to go to sleep now, Please don't read all night."

Jade nodded absently already reading again. The book was quite descriptive about what was needed to cast the Busenat spell. Jade read it through several times. "Nathan couldn't have cast this spell. At fifteen he wouldn't have grown into his full power yet and would not have had enough skill or power to cast this spell. Then how did he become a Busenat?" Jade muttered to herself.

It was past three when Jade finished Chapter five. Mind muddled with everything she had read and the need for sleep, Jade decided to finish the book in the morning.

Ellen woke her up the next morning, "Wake up, sleepy head. Breakfast is here. How late were you up?"

Jade didn't really want to admit that to Ellen so she just shrugged her shoulders and muttered something about it being late.

"Hmm." Ellen said looking at Jade. "That book must have been terribly interesting. What was it about?"

Jade gave her answer again about it having High level spells in it. "I really don't know what you see in reading about spells. But then I really am not interested in all those spells like you are." Ellen finished as she sat down at the breakfast laden table.

Jade smiled at her and got ready. As Ellen chatted through breakfast Jade had a hard time concentrating on her instead of her book. Her father had written to pay attention to chapter six, which to pay attention to chapter six, which she hadn't read yet. Would it hold the answer to how Nathan became a Busenat?

"Jade!" Ellen said insistently. "Are you even listening to me?"

"huh… Sorry, El. What did you say?" Jade said sorry.

"You are thinking about that book aren't you?" Ellen asked.

Jade grimaced and nodded her head.

"Go read it then, I will catch up on my embroidery."

"Thanks Ellen." Jade excused herself from the table, and went over to the couch and her book.

* * *

Author's note- The story is coming along nicely, I must say. I hope you are enjoying reading it.

Thank you Fell4 and savethemadscientest for the reviews I love reading them. Tell me what you think of this chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Jade threw the book down annoyed and confused. She had read through chapter six several times and still had nothing. Sure it hypnotized on several methods on modifying the Busenat spell but it didn't go into great detail about these methods. She needed access to a library in order to be able get the information she needed, and currently she couldn't leave the room.

Jade got up and paced the room wondering what she should do. There was a possibility that the men could be in the library getting ready for the spells that they were using as a distraction on Richard. Which meant she needed to stay here.

"Jade?" A voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes?" She distractedly answered.

"Is everything alright? You're pacing." Ellen asked.

Jade sank into a chair and answered. "Just when I think I am making progress on a problem that I am trying to solve. I am halted. I need some more books but I am stuck in here." Jade said annoyed.

"That is a problem. Do you know specifically what books you need? Because if you do, we can send a servant to go get them." Ellen said.

Making a face, Jade commented, "Not really but I could make some guesses." She reached over to the desk and grabbed a pen and piece of paper. She thought for a moment and wrote down the name of some books. When she looked up Ellen was already talking to a servant.

After the servant left Jade thanked Ellen for doing that. Ellen replied, "Something is going on here. Sometimes when you get focused on something, you only see that. But this seems different, something is different. What is it?"

Jade thought about it and then carefully said, "It involves a dear friend of mine. I am trying to figure out a way to help him."

Ellen's face perked up, "Him? Who is this man?" Do I know him?"

Jade looked at her surprised when she felt her face get hot. "No, you don't know him." Jade replied before turning around to look out the window.

"Then this mystery man must be your new High mage." Ellen said with glee.

"Why do you say that?" Jade tried to ask calmly.

"Because he is the only man that I haven't met. "Ellen said confidently. "Are you going to tell me about him?"

"No." Jade said shortly wondering why she was acting like this. She started to pace again.

"Why not?" Ellen pleaded.

"Because I don't see how Nathan has anything to do with what is happening."

Ellen replied, "It will pass away the time." She looked at Jade pacing and smiled.

"No." Jade replied again, still trying to figure out why her heart was beating so loud. "I am going to take a nap. I stayed up too late last night."

"Of course." Ellen responded knowingly.

Jade laid down on the bed and covered her face with the covers. Why did it feel like something important just happened? And Ellen caught it but she didn't?

Jade closed her eyes and she saw Nathan's sad face before she left. She willed herself to think of something else. Unbidden she saw Richard's cool and assessing face. The face he had on last night after dinner. What a difference between those two, she thought before she drifted off to sleep.

Jade was awoken by the sun hitting her face. It must be the afternoon because that is the only time to sun comes through this window, Jade thought as she climbed out of the bed.

"If you want some lunch it is on the table." Ellen said without looking up from her embroidery.

"Thank you, Ellen." Jade said as she made her way to the table.

"You're Welcome. Are you willing to talk about Nathan now that you have had your nap?" Ellen asked slyly.

"What?" Jade choked out, spilling the milk she was about to drink. She looked over at Ellen who was smiling evilly at her. "Why do you think I will talk about it now?" Jade stumbled out.

Ellen stood up and went to sit by Jade, "Because I asked so nice." She said innocently.

"No." Jade said, "There is really nothing to talk about."

"You are in denial. There is a bunch to talk about. How did you meet?" Ellen pressed.

Jade just stared at her for a long moment before answering seriously, "This story is long and kind-of complicated and I can't tell you most of it. So I am not going to answer any of these questions."

The smile faded from Ellen's face, replaced with a concerned look, "Sounds serious. Will you at least promise me to tell me the whole story when you can?"

Jade nodded.

"Can I help you go through the books that were delivered, at least?" Ellen asked.

Jade smiled and nodded, "I will give you a list of methods that I am looking for and we will split the books. Thank you for our help. I appreciate it."

Ellen replied, "I am happy to help. I am your friend."

"Yes, you are." Jade answered.

They searched through the books for the rest of the afternoon with not much success. The four methods they found didn't make sense, and Jade couldn't connect them to anything with the Busenat curse.

Ellen left briefly to make sure her things had been packed up after dinner. Jade helped direct some servants to pack her few bags as well.

Jade was discouraged. She hadn't found what she needed to find and she would be leaving in the morning. She sat down with her father's book. She opened it to the last letter she had read and began to read through the book again from that point.

She read until Ellen came back with Tavis and Mage Williams.

"How did today go?" She asked them.

"He was very easy to distract, he didn't really ask about you after we explained you and Ellen were having a last girl's day, before Ellen leaves." Tavis said.

"What about tomorrow?" Ellen peeped in, "How are you going to distract him?"

"We have a spell that is half done. We have to start working on it as soon as the sun rises. You will leave after, so we need to say good-bye tonight." Mage Williams answered.

"Alright. That sounds good." Ellen answered.

"Can I take the book you gave me yesterday?" Jade asked, "When I am done with it, I will send it back."

"It actually was your father's. He gave it to me so I could give it to you. So you are free to do whatever you want with it." Mage Williams answered.

"Really?" Jade asked, then catching his face answered, "I know, I know. Somewhere my father left me an explanation for all this, I just have to find it."

"Good Girl.' He said, "Are you all ready to go in the morning?"

"Yes, we have everything packed for the slower carriages and smaller packs for me and Ellen to go much faster." Jade answered.

"I wish I could go along with you." Tavis complained, "I don't like the fact that you two are going by yourselves."

Ellen smiled and patted his cheek, "Don't worry, Tavis. I bet you are going to have a harder time distracting Richard."

That didn't cheer Tavis any. The two men said good-bye and then left. Ellen looked sadly at the door and commented, "Do you think Tavis will be alright with that horrible man?"

"He will be. Although he will most likely figure out some way to make us owe him." Jade commented.

That made Ellen laugh and go get ready for bed.

The two days of traveling was uneventful. They kept their horses at a fast pace, resting them often. They also traveled from sun up to sun down. At the end of the third day Jade and Ellen parted ways. Jade was about a day from home when she sensed that something was not right. She immediately took her horse off the road and hid behind a grove of trees.

She had been hiding long enough for her to wonder if she had been mistaken, when she heard another horse coming very quickly down the road.

She watched intently as the figure became closer and closer. She was very surprised to see Richard on a black horse riding past at a full gallop.

Jade waited for a few minutes before she started to lead her horse through the trees always keeping sight of the road. It was slower this way, but seeing Richard had scared her. How had he caught up her so fast? It wasn't like she had been traveling slow. She hoped that Tavis and Mage Williams were alright.

After several hours of traveling in the woods, Jade was about to risk going back onto the road so she could travel faster. Her horse gave a scared whicker and she heard some movement through the trees.

Jade scanned the trees, she could still hear movement but couldn't see anything. The sound kept coming closer and closer.

"Jade." A familiar voice called out. "Don't worry, it is just me."

* * *

Author's note- Thanks for reading the newest chapter, I am getting close to the end. Thanks for the review Fell4- I always love reading them.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Jade," a familiar voice called out, "don't worry, it is just me."

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Jade smiled, "Nathan, you had me scared to death."

His large cloaked figure came out of the shadows and Jade ran up to give him a hug, startling him.

She pulled back and asked him, "What are you doing here?"

"I have been monitoring your progress back and decided to come greet you." Was his answer. "Why are you traveling off the road?" He asked.

"That is part of a much longer story." She explained. "Let's start back, and I will tell you about it. I think we are going to have trouble soon."

She quickly told him about Richard, and how he had cast that spell on her, and how she was hoping to be back at the castle before he realized that she was gone, but she had seen him gallop by a little while ago and she was trying to avoid him. After her explanation, Nathan with his face very grim told her to get on her horse and follow him through the woods. "Can you run as fast as a horse?" She asked confused.

He looked at her and smiled, "Did you forget? I am a beast, after all."

Jade looked at him, stunned before smiling back at him and climbing on her horse, she answered, "Compared to Richard, you are a gentleman."

He chuckled before dropping down to all fours and breaking into a run. Jade followed him on her horse. It was before sun down that they arrived at the castle.

Jade looked after her horse while Nathan went in search of James. She found both of them in the library looking very serious. "What is the matter?" She asked.

"Your man, Richard is in the village right now." Nathan said.

"His is **not** my man." Jade snapped.

This earned a smile out of Nathan before he continued, "Apparently he is causing a big ruckus about me being a horrible beast."

"How does he know that?" Jade asked horrified, "I didn't tell him."

"I know, he is also having a hard time convincing them of that." Nathan said.

"That is good." Jade answered.

"Not really. Because it will be just a matter of time for him to magically convince them of it." James put in.

"What? But that is forbidden!" Jade exclaimed.

"Has that stopped him before?" Nathan asked.

"What can we do?"

Prepare the castle for attack." Nathan answered.

"I can't see any of the villagers harmed." Jade insisted.

"If we plan this right we won't have too." Nathan said grabbing Jade's hand and began walking towards the workroom.

"What's your plan?" Jade asked as he pulled her to the workroom.

"Something I read in one of your father's journals, last week. It is about the ability to create a barrier that the caster can manipulate after casting." He explained as he went to the table and started flipping through a book. "Here it is." Nathan gave the book to Jade for her to read through.

Jade read through it. It allowed for the caster to change the barrier after she had cast it. So if the barriers started out as a straight line it could be changed to be a circle. That means she could trap the villagers in a barrier if they attacked and they would hopefully be kept safe in there while Richard was dealt with.

Lost in thought, Jade idly turned to the back of the book and read through the last page. Circle spells, it read. Jade froze. Circle spells was on the list of methods from the Busenat Book. She quickly read through the page and read it through again before she looked up stunned at Nathan who was gathering up supplies.

"What's wrong?" He asked concerned at her white face.

"I know… I know how it happened…. How you became a Busenat. My father knew too, that is why he brought you here….. you didn't cast the spell…. You were just used by someone else. They cast a circle spell between the two of you, so you both would share the effects of the spell. You took the Beast side-effects and a little of the power, while they got most of the power and none of the Beast side-effects." Jade started rambling. "But… But… in order to cast the circle spell the other person had to be someone in your immediate family, a parent… sibling…." Jade stopped gulping for air, tears coming down her face, "But how could they do that to you? You were only fifteen. .. Who could have done it?" Jade finally stopped, letting the book fall to the ground.

Nathan walked around the table and engulfed her in an embrace. "How could they? I have wondered that for the last ten years. As for whom… who do you know that has been asking questions about me recently?"

Jade brought her head off his shoulder and gasped, "Richard? He is your… is your…"

"My brother, yes." Nathan answered.

"Why is he doing all of this? He already has ruined your life." Jade exclaimed.

Nathan whispered, "I am not sure."

"Stupid Richard. I hate him." Jade said squeezing Nathan with a tighter hug.

They stood there like that for quite a while before Nathan let go and picked up the book, commenting, "I wish we could solve all of this right now, but we need to start setting up this spell. It is going to take a while and you are going to have to be the person to cast it because we are going to need the lay lines."

Jade nodded mutely as she wiped her eyes. Nathan reached over and gently wiped her cheek, "Thank you for caring about me." He said before handing her the book and turning around and asking, "What supplies do we need?"

It took most of the night to set-up the spell. James was preparing the few soldiers and servants, who stayed at the castle over night, for what the morning might bring.

When they had finished the spell Nathan collapsed on a couch in the library tired. Jade not wanted to be far from him at the moment, curled up next to him and fell asleep as he was wrapping one of his arms around her.

Jade awoke because Nathan was moving. She tried to ignore it by refusing to move but he shook her shoulder gently and whispered in her ear, "Jade, you need to wake up. James says there is movement in the village and we need to be ready for them when they get here."

Jade groaned but she sat up, already mostly awake, "Let's get this over and done with." She growled.

Nathan laughed at her before commenting, "You take care of that barrier and I will take care of Richard and it should be over soon."

They headed up and over to the walls of the castle and waited there patiently until they could see movement coming from the village. Jade watched as people she had known for most of her life came up the road in a raving mad mob. They were not far from the walls when Jade drew power from the lay lines and activated the barrier. According to plan the barrier rose up in a straight line in front of the castle. She looked over the mob and caught sight of Richard in the back. Jade redirected her attention to the mob when they reached the barrier and started hitting against it. Jade looked back at Richard to notice that he was gone. Making a face Jade started murmuring the words to change the barrier into a circle around the mob. Carefully balancing the power of the Lay Lines into the grid of a moving barrier was much harder than Jade anticipated, she was sweating by the time she had closed the circle. Grinning from her success, she watched the villagers banging against the barrier. Although the longer they kept at it, the more their anger began to grow. She was worried that they might hurt themselves. Jade looked around for Nathan, finally noticing he was gone. Calling James over she asked if he had any ideas.

"What about a sleeping powder?" He asked.

"That would work great, run to the workroom and get me all the sleepfoil, tal powder and moonlily dust I have there" Jade told him.

He returned shortly as Jade constructed a circle barrier, like a pot that she mixed the ingredients into.

She then moved it above the villagers and dropped it in. It only took a few minutes before the villagers were all on the ground asleep. "Are you going to drop the barrier that surrounds them, My lady?" one of the guards asked.

Jade slowly shook her head, "No, I want to make sure that we have Richard before we do that. I am going to go see if I can find them." She excused herself.

* * *

Nathan followed Richard as he separated from the crowd. He caught up to him as Richard was sneaking into one of the courtyards.

"Why are you here, Richard?" Nathan growled at him.

"I heard you got yourself a new place, and I wanted to come see it." Richard said calmly.

"Tell me the real reason," Nathan demanded.

"I came to do the job that those wolves couldn't do."

"You sent the wolves?" Nathan asked surprised, "You almost killed Jade."

"Ah, yes… that girl. When the wolves failed, I tried to make her mind mine so when she came back here, she would kill you. But somehow she escaped." Richard scornfully said.

"Whatever you and me have between us, keep Jade out of it." Nathan said. "I don't understand why you are trying to kill me now. You have had ten years to do it."

"It's because of that girl. Ever since you came here, I am been experiencing some of the side effects. So I decided that I needed to dispose of you before the spell was reversed." Richard said.

"Experiencing the side effects?" Nathan asked confused.

"Yes, you were getting close to breaking the spell on yourself, which would have bounced the whole spell back onto me." Richard said scornfully.

"But if I die, that doesn't happen?" Nathan asked.

"Nope." Was Richard reply as he started to chant a spell.

Nathan started chanting his own counter.

* * *

But the time Jade found them, the courtyard had taken a severe beating. The bench was on fire, walls broken, flowers destroyed. She looked in horror at the first real mage battle that she had ever seen.

Nathan seemed to be holding his own against his stronger opponent and Jade hoped that he would continue to be able too. She sneaked around the courtyard and got as close as she possibly could to Nathan without being seen by both of them.

Suddenly she realized that something was wrong, Nathan's barriers were spread too thin and he didn't seem to notice. Richard threw another blast at him and Jade was already moving before she realized it.

Running full tilt into Nathan, pushing him out of the way, she felt a searing pain tear through her right side before she collapsed next to Nathan.

* * *

Author's note- A little of a cliffhanger for you all. Well now you know how Nathan became the beast. Tell me what you think! Thanks to Fell4 and anonymous for the reviews!


	13. Chapter 13

I revised this chapter with the great help of Fell4. Thanks for helping me out!

Chapter 13

"I would have had you that time." Richard complained, "though at least I don't have to go find her now."

Nathan roared in anger at Richard and sent shear power rolling off of him, slamming it into Richard crushing him into the wall. He watched Richard's body slump against the wall for a long moment as he let the magic fade, before realizing Jade was still lying on the ground. He turned and saw her side covered with blood and her eyes closed on her pale face. He rushed and knelt by her side, unsure of what to do.

"Jade? Come on please, open your eyes. Jade please." He begged her.

Her eyes opened slowly as her gaze focused on him, weakly she asked, "Are you alright?"

"Am I all right?" He asked hysterically, "How can you be asking me that? You're the one that is hurt!" He noticed her eyes closing. "No… No… stay with me- keep your eyes open."

He turned his head toward the castle and magically roared into the air. _"JAMES- GET THE HEALER HERE, NOW!" _

Turning back to her, "Keep those eyes on me. Come on, Jade." He as he directed his attention back on her. "That's my girl. Whatever possessed you to knock me out of the way like that?" He asked softly to keep her attention on him and not the pain she must be feeling.

She gave him a half-smile, half-wince and answered, "I couldn't let the man I love be killed like that." She whispered as she began to fade out again.

"What?" Nathan asked shocked.

"It means I Love you Idiot." She said before she lost consciousness.

"Jade? Please stay with me." Nathan begged, one hand holding her head, the other on the wound at her side. He ignored the light gathering around him as he continued to plead with Jade to wake up again.

"NO!" a scream came from the direction that Richard had been thrown to.

Nathan quickly looked towards the sound to see The Beast he usually saw in the mirror coming towards him, very angry.

"This wasn't supposed to happen." The Beast growled.

Nathan, unable to leave Jade's side, just looked at the Beast; wondering what happened.

"That girl ruined everything." The Beast continued to growl.

"Richard?" Nathan's shell-shocked mind finally understood what had happened, "That means…" he looked down at his hands. His now normal-looking hands. "She did it, she broke the curse." He muttered looking over at Jade's pale face, still shocked.

Richard roared and came closer. Bringing a spell to his fingertips, Nathan rushed to counter, but stopped as The Beast jerked to a stop. There was another jerk from the hideous creature, then he fell. Crashing to the ground with two arrows coming out of his back. The beast which had once been Richard lay still.

Nathan looked around scanning the area, before finally seeing Paul standing on top of the wall with a crossbow in his hands. "The villagers were right, there was a beast in here." Paul raised his voice so Nathan could hear him. "How is she?" Paul continued concerned.

Nathan looked down at Jade, worried and answered, "Not good. James should be here with the healer soon."

"We're here." James said as he came bustling in with the Healer Tom.

"What happened to her?" Tom asked as he knelt down.

"She was hit with a spell from that guy." Nathan said worried and gestured toward Richard's body.

"That guy?..." Tom looked over where Nathan had pointed, "Oh, **that's** the Beast." Tom paused again, "I don't mean to offend but I thought you were the Beast?"

"Well…. That's a very long story… So not now…" Nathan stammered.

"Alright." Tom said already distracted by his work. After quickly examining Jade, he started muttering a healing spell. Jade stirred and shifted her body causing her to wince.

Tome looked up at the worried Nathan, "Do you the spell, Healer's Sleep?"

Nathan began to shake his head before he remembered that he had read about it, it was right after the spell about manipulating barriers. "I have read about it, but never tried it." He answered.

"Well, it is a simple spell, so now is the time to try it out." Tom answered, "The healing will go more smoothly if we have put her into the Sleep."

Nathan nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. This spell required the used of the Lay lines and while his magic should not longer be tainted he was worried that he wouldn't be able to use it.

"I will walk you through it." Tom broke his thoughts, "In case you can't remember the whole spell."

"Alright," Nathan nodded, deciding to try it for Jade, "What do I do first?"

"Fortunately this spell doesn't require any ingredients. First step is to bring up the power from the lay line into your left hands" Tom said distracted, his own concentration on his own hands at Jade's side.

Nathan brought up the power carefully into his left hand and looked over at Tom for his next instruction.

"Put your hand on her forehead and repeat after me." Nathan followed Tom's instructions and carefully repeated the words as Tom said them.

"Not bad." Tom replied after Nathan was done. "We will have to re-cast it in three days because it is not strong enough to keep her asleep for the full seven days Jade will need but not bad for your first try."

Nathan looked at him concerned, "I did everything correctly, then?"

"Yes, I couldn't do it because it needed use of the lay line power. You did a good job though." Tome finished.

"How is Jade?" Nathan asked worried.

"I believe she will be alright. I have done all that I can do right now. I will need to do healing sessions in two hour increments for the next day or two and then the intervals will lengthen after that. Let's move her into her room, she should be stable enough to move."

Carefully constructing a lifting spell Nathan gently lifted Jade up and floated her over to her room. He hovered anxiously getting in the way until he was shooed out by Tom and some maids.

Not sure of what else he should be doing, Nathan went back to the courtyard where Paul was standing guard over The Beast's body. Nathan looked sadly down at the body of the beast, the same body he had been trapped in for ten years, now the body of his dead brother.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Paul asked.

Looking at Paul, Nathan answered, "I wouldn't know where to start."

"Or what is the story you want everybody to be telling?" Paul clarified with a smile.

"I need to think about that too, don't I?" Nathan replied with a slight smile.

Paul laughed, "I won't tell anybody. After all I knew you really were a beast for a while now…" He pause for a short moment to gage Nathan's reaction, before continuing, "I also saw Jade get hurt by him and you two transform. Can I have the whole story, please?"

"How did you know about me being a beast?" Nathan asked curious.

"The night with the wolves, I wasn't knocked unconscious for as long as you thought I was."

Nathan chuckled, shaking his head at his negligence, "I should have checked. Why didn't you tell anybody that I was really a beast?"

"It was Lady Jade. She knew what you were, but she respected you, she seemed to trust you a little bit. I decided to trust her." Paul answered.

"I have been saved by Jade many times, today included." Nathan answered. He proceeded to tell Paul his story, which he could now tell because the curse had been lifted. When he was done he asked, "What should I tell everyone?"

"The simple truth," Paul started, "Your brother cursed you and then decided to kill you before you could tell. I helped kill him while you tried to help Jade who had saved you. He was the one who was really the Beast, not you. Which is the truth by the way."

"Thanks Paul. What should we do with the body?" Nathan asked.

Paul paused, "Burn it...?" he said tentatively.

Nathan considered it for a moment, "Done." Nathan said as a green bonfire appeared in front of them engulfing the body.

"How is Jade by the way?" Paul asked.

"The healer said she will be fine. We have her in a healing sleep and he is checking up on her every two hours."

"And you got kicked out?" Paul chuckled.

"I did."

They stood watching the fire in a comfortable silence before Paul remarked, "The guards probably want to see you. Apparently to help protect the villagers, Jade cast a sleep spell over them. James woke up the healer for you but you probably need to go wake up everybody else."

Nathan sighed, "That's going to require explanations of what happened, which I really don't want to do right now." Nathan grimaced before continuing, "Most likely they will wake up on their own in an hour or so. During that time I think I am going to check up on Jade." Nathan turned to leave but was stopped by the approach of a group of guards.

The lead guard studied him for a long moment before remarking, "I guess, that I am talking to High Mage Nathan." He waited for Nathan's nod before continuing, "You look nothing like a beast and don't have a large burn on your face either. Can I have an explanation?" he asked bluntly.

Nathan shot a quick look at Paul before nodded and quickly telling the story that Paul had suggested. The guards listened carefully before accepting his explanation and telling him about how the villagers were still asleep from Lady Jade's sleeping powder. Nathan spent the afternoon waking the villagers, then telling his story over and over again. It was night before he was able to walk into Jade's room again. He found Tom, bent over her his hand glowing a faint blue. Nathan waited patiently for him to finish before asking, "How is she doing?"

"She is beginning to heal well. I will be staying here tonight, keeping up with the two hour healing increments. My apprentice will take over tomorrow morning. Do I get to hear the story now?"

"What story?" Nathan asked even though he knew the answer.

"The story all the villagers will have heard by now. What happened today?" Tom replied.

"That story…" Nathan sighed and told his story yet again.

Tom listened carefully and after Nathan was done, said, "That is quite a tale, thank you for telling me. I recommend that we get some sleep." He patted the couch that he was sitting on before saying "I am keeping this couch since I will be up every two hours. Are you going to stay in here as well?"

"Of course." Nathan answered.

"Thought so. I had one of the maids' set-up a cot over there for you." Tom finished, pointing to the far side of the room.

Nathan looked over to where he pointed and thanked Tom before going over and collapsing into it. Despite how tired Nathan was, that night was a long one for him. He woke up every time Tom moved to work on Jade. The next day was difficult to stay focused on helping the villagers put their village back together after their rampaging mob. His mind kept wandering to Jade and how tired he was. He did his best renewing spells and putting new spells on during the day. Then at night Nathan spent his time holding Jade's hand.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Jade woke up to complete darkness, she couldn't see anything. She could feel that she was lying down in her bed which confused her. The last thing she could remember she was in the courtyard and the sun was shining. Moving to sit up, she felt a small wince in her side, Jade remembered how she was injured. Hearing movement to the side of her, she asked hoarsely, "Who's there?"

"Don't worry, Jade. It's me." Came Nathan's reply.

"Nathan? What happened?" She asked as she tried to sit up again.

"I am here." He answered as he touched her hand. "You need to stay lying down. You remember getting hurt?" He waited for her yes before continuing, "Well Tom, the healer, has been healing you and to help with that, we put you in a Healing Sleep. You've been asleep for the last three days."

"Three days?" Jade asked as she clasped his hands, "That long?"

"Yes, that long and you actually need to go back to sleep for another three days." Nathan apologized.

"Wait!" Jade said franticly, "Tell me what happened first."

"Richard is dead. Paul shot him with his crossbow." Nathan said flatly.

"What about the curse?" Jade asked.

She heard the laughter in his voice as he asked back, "What about the curse?"

"With him dead, can the curse be broken?" Jade asked confused.

"What do you remember Jade?" Nathan asked.

Jade paused, listening to his voice, "Wait… wait… your voice… it is different somehow. It doesn't rumble so much." She directed her attention to his thumbs which were lightly caressing her palms. She realized they were soft and felt normal, there were no claws.

"Let me feel your face." She demanded yanking out one hand and reaching up to the sound of his voice.

He laughed, "Why?"

"To prove to myself that the curse is really broken. How did it break?" She asked as he grabbed her hand and brought it up to his cheek.

She cupped his cheek in her hand and ran her fingers across the smooth skin of his cheek. She repeated her question, "How did the curse get broken?"

She felt him laugh through her hand and answer, "You broke it. You… Jade… the girl who decided that she could love a beast."

Jade was surprised as she took his statement in. "Do you mean to say that I broke it by saying I love you?"

Nathan grabbed her hand and kissed the palm. "Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. We can discuss this later because you need to go back to sleep." Still holding her hand Nathan put his other hand on her forehead and quickly muttered the words of a spell. Jade couldn't fight her eyes closing as the effects of the spell took over.

Nathan held her hand for a long moment before kissing it again and setting it down. He made his way back to the cot, smiling to himself about the fact that he kept his beast-like night vision. There were other things that stayed after the transformation, He had kept his height, keen eyesight and hearing.

He settled down on the couch and fell asleep listening to Jade's peaceful breathing.

* * *

Jade was walking through the library for the third time that day. She was looking for Nathan. It was almost nightfall and she couldn't find him. He had been acting a little strange since she woke up four days ago. It seemed like he wasn't getting enough sleep. She was getting worried. Jade went back downstairs to the dining room where she found him waiting for her.

"Where have you been? I have been looking all over for you." Jade chided while she walked toward him.

"I was in the garden, thinking." Nathan answered.

"About what?"

Nathan shrugged his shoulders and looked away. Jade moved closer to him, putting a hand on his chin and moved his head so he was looking at her.

"What's wrong?" Jade asked.

"It's nothing." He answered grabbing her hand to pull it down.

Jade evaded his grasp and put both her hands on his face and said, "You're lying. What is the Matter?"

He lightly clasped her wrists and answered, "It really is nothing."

"I don't believe you." Jade said. She ran a thumb under his eye and said, "You look like you haven't been sleeping well. So something is definitely bothering you."

Nathan smiled at her and asked, "Why can't I hide anything from you?"

Jade smiled back and answered, "Because I know you so well. Are you going to tell me what the matter is now?"

Nathan sighed and replied, "Ever since you woke up four days ago I have been having dreams that this." He waved to the both of them. "is the dream and I am going to wake up stuck in a beast's body again. This feels too good to be true." He choked out. "I am afraid to go to sleep."

Jade's heart broke as she looked at his tired face. "Then how can I prove to you that this isn't the dream. This is what is real."

He smiled slightly at her and pulled her hands down from his face, and held them tightly. "You help by being here with me."

"Is that all?" Jade asked.

He smiled larger and pulled her into a hug where he whispered into her ear, "Yes, you being here is enough.'

Jade pulled back from him just enough so she could see his face, opening her mouth to say something only to close it again as her eyes locked with his. Instead she leaned in bridging the gap between them kissing him. She felt his surprise and then his acceptance followed by a hunger that she felt as well.

When Nathan pulled back, she sighed, "No," And pulled him back for another prolonged kiss. When they finally broke apart for the second time Nathan let out a small chuckle and lightly kissed her nose, "That was so much better than I had ever dreamed." He lightly pecked her forehead.

Jade smiled softly, "You better not be dreaming."

Grabbing another quick kiss, Nathan laughed again, "After this I don't know if I could go to sleep."

"You need sleep. Or I fear you are going to collapse on the floor." Jade commented with a smile.

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"Of course." Jade answered.

Jade smiled as she held his hand tightly as he began to doze off, thinking how four days ago their roles had been reversed. She watched him for a while as Nathan slept before blowing out the candle and falling asleep in the chair herself.

* * *

Author's note- I finally got up the last chapter. I hoped you enjoyed reading this story!


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